Probing the Evolution of the Electron Spin Wave Function of the Nitrogen-Vacancy Center in Diamond via Pressure Tuning

Kin On Ho, Man Yin Leung, P. Reddy, Jianyu Xie, King Cho Wong, Yaxin Jiang, Wei Zhang, King Yau Yip, Wai Kuen Leung, Yiu Yung Pang, King Yiu Yu, Swee K. Goh, M.W. Doherty, and Sen Yang
Phys. Rev. Applied 18, 064042 – Published 14 December 2022
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Abstract

Understanding the profile of a qubit’s wave function is key to its quantum applications. Unlike conducting systems, where a scanning tunneling microscope can be used to probe the electron distribution, there is no direct method for solid-state-defect-based qubits in wide-band-gap semiconductors. In this work, we use pressure as a tuning method and a nuclear spin as an atomic scale probe to monitor the hyperfine structure of negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (N-V) centers in diamonds under pressure. We present a detailed study on the nearest-neighbor 13C hyperfine splitting in the optically detected magnetic resonance spectrum of N-V centers at different pressures. By examining the 13C hyperfine interaction upon pressurizing, we show that the N-V hyperfine parameters have prominent changes, resulting in an increase in the N-V electron spin density and rehybridization from sp3 to sp2 bonds. The ab initio calculations of strain dependence of the N-V center’s hyperfine levels are done independently. The theoretical results qualitatively agree well with experimental data without introducing any fitting parameters. Furthermore, this method can be adopted to probe the evolution of wave function in other defect systems. This potential capability could play a role in developing magnetometry and quantum information processing using the defect centers.

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  • Received 14 April 2022
  • Revised 7 November 2022
  • Accepted 21 November 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.064042

© 2022 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Kin On Ho1,‡, Man Yin Leung2,‡, P. Reddy3,‡, Jianyu Xie1,‡, King Cho Wong1,‡, Yaxin Jiang1, Wei Zhang1, King Yau Yip1, Wai Kuen Leung2, Yiu Yung Pang1, King Yiu Yu1, Swee K. Goh1,4, M.W. Doherty3,*, and Sen Yang1,2,†

  • 1Department of Physics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China
  • 2Department of Physics and the IAS Centre for Quantum Technologies, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
  • 3Laser Physics Centre, Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, 2601, Australia
  • 4Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China

  • *marcus.doherty@anu.edu.au
  • phsyang@ust.hk
  • These authors contributed equally to this work.

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Issue

Vol. 18, Iss. 6 — December 2022

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